


Let Me Not To The Marriage Of True Minds Admit Impediments.

by Lanna Michaels (lannamichaels)



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, M/M, Secret Identity, Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-22 05:34:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7421917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lannamichaels/pseuds/Lanna%20Michaels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hux is married to Ben Organa and has a crush on Kylo Ren. It's not a problem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Me Not To The Marriage Of True Minds Admit Impediments.

1.

There are worse fates. The man that Supreme Leader Snoke has ordered Hux to marry is a diplomat, tall and aloof. He needs Hux's name to tie him officially to the First Order; he needs nothing else from Hux at all. Hux would see him only on the rare occasions when he has to transport important passengers on the flagship. The only cost to Hux would be sharing his name with another.

Hux has done worse things in the name of the First Order. He signs the marriage paperwork without second thought.

Ben Organa shakes his hand after the signing ceremony. And then Hux doesn't see him for a year.

 

2.

Hux tends to forget that he's married. Every so often, a dignitary will mention an encounter with Lord Hux, and General Hux will have to fake a smile and say polite things about the husband he barely knows. He had never received a briefing about Ben -- Snoke had not considered one to be necessary -- and all that Hux had been able to put together from their brief time together is that Ben Organa, from his name alone and his need to change it quickly, must be a recent defector from the New Republic. That doesn't sound like the most promising start to a career in the First Order, and so Hux is always surprised to hear good reports of his husband. He supposes that emotion is foolish. Why should he assume Princess Leia Organa could not adequately train her son? But she also could not maintain her hold on him, so perhaps Hux's skepticism has merits. He does not know how well Ben was trained for his current role, but Ben is one of Snoke's favorites, and so he must be providing _some_ value to the cause.

It would be easier to assess Ben's worth if Hux spent any time at all with his husband, but in the three times Ben has so far traveled on the Finalizer, Hux has not been able to spend much time with him. Snoke never tells Hux more than he needs to know, and, from the evidence, Snoke doesn't think that Hux needs to know more about his husband than his name. Ben may share the same sentiment; he's always surrounded by his aides, always in meetings and briefings. Theirs is a marriage of complete simplicity; it may as well not exist for all it matters.

But Ben's walking around with Hux's name, and Hux is interested despite himself. He has invested a lot in his name's reputation, and, damn it, he cares what Ben does with it.

What Hux learns from others is that Ben travels within Snoke's elite band of negotiators, working tirelessly to expand the First Order's influence. No one says -- and what Hux has to read carefully through reports to learn -- is that Kylo Ren is dogging Ben's steps. When Ben arrives on a planet, it's only a matter of time before Kylo Ren attacks. Hux has long been an admirer of Kylo Ren: the man is a highly effective destructive weapon, honed perfectly to strike exactly where it is needed. Hux hopes to one day meet him.

That Kylo Ren might be hiding in Ben's entourage, perhaps as one of his bodyguards or aides, makes Hux look forward, for the first time, to Ben's next visit to the Finalizer.

 

3.

Every time Hux sees Ben, he is reminded about how much wasted time there is in civilian life. Ben's hair is pinned to his head in complicated braids that Hux knows takes Ben's aides over an hour to arrange. Ben's clothing is likewise frivolous and too complicated to be deciphered at mere glance. Hux wonders what effect it's supposed to have on negotiations when Hux can't even look at it without thinking of how foolish it all is. It's the complete anti-thesis of Lord Ren, who is always masked. Hux suspects that Lord Ren's hair is sensibly cut into a sharp military style; Lord Ren knows better than to spend time primping. It's a shame that if Hux had to be married to one of Snoke's favored servants, it hand to be this one instead of one much more valuable.

Hux assesses Ben's entourage more thoroughly than he ever has before, wondering if any of them are Lord Ren or if Ren simply slips in and out while using them as cover. They all look too much like Ben: impressively robed, impressively jeweled, and looking nothing like someone who kills with the Force.

Hux turns to Ben. "Deck 12 suffered damage during our last battle, and so you will be quartering with me, my lord. Lieutenant Vepp will escort your aides to their billets."

Ben inclines his head in acceptable and waves off his aides. He follows Hux to his quarters and then looks around, frankly assessing the suite. Hux stands at ease, watching him. It's hardly what Ben's probably used to planet-side, but it's as good as any guest suite on a First Order military vessel. Still, Hux's decorations are sparse and unsentimental. If he has to evacuate at speed, he won't be leaving anything behind that he can't bear to lose.

"Acceptable," Ben pronounces. "Do you have a pallet or shall we share the bed?"

Hux did have a cot brought up from the barracks, but it's uncomfortable, and Hux would likely be obliged to give the bed to the guest. "I'm not averse to sharing."

Ben nods shortly. "Very well." He walks to the 'fresher, pulling pins out of his hair. 

Hux has never seen it down before. Ben's hair ends around the middle of his back and flows in waves. Hux, suddenly, itches to put his hands in it and _pull_. He clasps his hands behind his back instead.

Ben comes out of the 'fresher completely naked, his clothes tossed over one arm, and his body is covered in scars and bruises. Hux is working at his desk and is not staring. He isn't.

"What were you before you married me?" Hux wonders

Ben throws him a look on the way to putting his clothes away. "I told you. A prince."

Hux does his best to ignore Ben's impressive muscles. They're just wasted effort. There's no point in being tempted by them. Ben's body is honed for show, for aesthetic pleasure, not for use in battle. It's a waste, a frivolity. Ben's use isn't with his body. He keeps himself fit for decoration. He's not a soldier. He probably heard someone call him soft once and decided to hone his body in revenge. But he's not-- there's nothing here for Hux to be tempted by. Hux is a soldier and he appreciates strength. And Ben is clearly strong, but it's for the wrong purpose. Touching him would be, in the end, unsatisfying.

So he doesn't touch.

 

4.

Ben stays for a regulation week and then departs cheerfully. Hux decides to ignore how empty his quarters feel by meticulously going through the personnel records of all of Ben's attendants. Ben has two bodyguards, as is appropriate for someone of his station, but they both came from the stormtrooper corps. Records can be changed, but Kylo Ren does not walk like a stormtrooper and certainly does not fight like one. And, considering the kind of ego that Snoke's favorite weapon must have, Hux does not think it likely that Ren is hiding himself as a stormtrooper.

But Ben's attendants have none of the well-documented histories of stormtroopers, and they all travel with extensive baggage. Any one of them could be hiding Kylo Ren's uniform and lightsaber beneath their elaborate regalia. They are not subject to the searches that stormtroopers are. 

As for Ben himself, the file on him is only as Lord Ben Hux, there is nothing that came before or comes between. Hux isn't surprised. The point was to hide Ben's past; it is now hidden. And so now there's nothing to find.

And Hux is a general. He has better things to do than search for a ghost amongst his husband's retinue. 

But, in between crises, Hux keeps searching for Ren. He doesn't find him.

 

5.

Hux wakes up slowly, his head throbbing. His arms and legs are chained in front of him and attached to a wall. He's been stripped of all his weapons and he's probably about to die. They may just be waiting for the perfect moment for his messy, public execution. It's a shame. Hux was having quite a good year. It's a shame to spoil it with death.

So he bides his time, waiting for his captors to come, looking for a way out of here. There's a strange buzzing hum in the distance and it takes Hux a long time to recognize it for what it is: a lightsaber.

Either the Jedi have returned from whatever ignominious grave Kylo Ren put them into... or Kylo Ren himself is here.

"You are the most useless general I have ever met," Kylo Ren greets him after burning off the cell door with his lightsaber. "Why did you walk into a trap without any guards? Are you stupid?"

"I had guards," Hux responds primly. "They were killed."

Ren keeps grumbling about how Hux even got himself into his situation as he frees Hux from his restraints and throws a cloak at him. "Cover yourself, no one else should be seeing that."

Hux stops rubbing his wrists long enough to catch the cloak and put it on. It goes to his knees and Hux isn't sure he wants to know where Ren got it. Ignorance may be the better choice in this situation. "Thank you for the rescue," he starts, gearing up to demand to know why Kylo Ren is speaking to him in this way, but then Ren grabs Hux by the front.

"The one time you leave your flagship," Ren growls. "I can't believe you. Why did I marry you? You're useless."

And Hux just... Hux stops. "Oh?"

"Yes, useless," Ren repeats. "I had to abandon my mission to come get you, and there you are--"

"Ben, I think it's time we returned to the ship," Hux says, because frankly, he'd remember if he married someone else. At least, he assumes he would. He's heard about what the Jedi could do with the Force. "I need a shower."

"You need _decontamination_ ," Ren retorts, but starts pulling Hux out of the cell. Leading him. While holding on to him. "Why are you so surprised? You must have known I would come for you." And then Ren says, "what do you mean, you didn't know? Snoke didn't tell you?"

"I don't appreciate your mind tricks," Hux says, and Ren laughs.

"You do, you've wanted to fuck me in my uniform this entire time. You admire my _strategic value_." He seems oddly pleased by that. Well, he should be. Hux doesn't give just anyone that compliment. They have to earn it. "I always wondered why you never actually did anything while I was on board." 

Wonderful. His husband Ben had been overhearing Hux's fantasies about Kylo Ren this entire time. This would be extremely awkward if Ben and Kylo Ren were not, it appears, the same person. And if Hux were still capable of being embarrassed, but that was burned out of him a long, long time ago. "Your hair got in the way," Hux says. "How do you even fit it under that helmet?"

"Braids," Ren responds blithely. 

"And I assume a healthy dose of the Force," Hux says. He decides he likes the feeling of Ren's hand on his body. He'll let it stay.

"That, too," Kylo Ren, Hux's husband, allows.


End file.
